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Ideational items Job satisfaction: the “throwaway” society
from the desh of ROBERT J. WALLER
IDEATIONAL ITEMS Job satisfaction: the "throwaway" society Robert J. Waller is a faculty m e m b e r in management and economics at the University o f Northern lowa.
Current theories of motivation follow one of two paths. The cognitive approach, represented b y men like Maslow, Herzberg, and McGregor, stresses the importance of mitigating job dissatisfaction and enhancing productivity through a reconstruction of the work itself. The basic notion is to design tasks so as to insert "meaning" into a hitherto meaningless job. This approach is exemplified by such methods as job enlargement and increased worker responsibility and autonomy. Its implicit assumption is that certain higher-order needs like self-actualization, which now govern the modern worker, cannot be satisfied through job designs incorporating simplicity and routine. The second approach arises from modern behavioristic psychology, characterized b y the operant conditioning techniques of B. F. Skinner. The idea is that positively reinforcing a certain kind of behavior will result in this behavior being repeated with increased frequency. The job design is apparently a less
OCTOBER, 1973
important element in this scheme; it hinges upon selective reinforcement o f behavior management deems desirable. Thus, the critical aspect is to create mechanisms for providing this reinforcement, such as a supervisor programmed to give praise when a worker exhibits " g o o d " behavior. In both the cognitive and behavioristic approaches, however, little if any emphasis is bestowed upon the output itself-the comm o d i t y or service produced. The tacit assumption seems to be that what one is producing has little to do with job attitudes and that the residual elements of job content and context are where the real sources of dissatisfaction reside. Perhaps this is a major omission. Can we be so n u m b e d by modern life that the characteristics and dimensions of the means employed hold full dominion over the ends sought? Let us compare, for example, the construction of a fine piece of furniture and a mass-produced item such as an automobile or toothpaste. Aesthetic considerations aside, the furniture maker is conscious of the fact that he is fashioning a c o m m o d i t y that will,
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with a p p r o p r i a t e care, last for generations. B u t the a u t o m o b i l e w o r k e r , assuming he considers the m a t t e r at all, m u s t be a c u t e l y aware t h a t the result o f his labor will last for o n l y a few years, u l t i m a t e l y resting as a jarring e y e s o r e in a roadside j u n k y a r d . A l t h o u g h the t e n d e n c y is to t h i n k o f such considerations as applying o n l y to w o r k e r s in an organization's technical core, it seems equally plausible t h a t a sensitive m a n a g e r also can e n t e r t a i n these t h o u g h t s and b e d i s t u r b e d b y his role in the p r o d u c t i o n and sale o f t r a n s i t o r y c o m m o d i t i e s . A friend o f m i n e w h o is a p o t t e r c o n c e d e s t h a t the relative perman e n c e o f his o u t p u t , in terms o f h o w p e o p l e view it and t r e a t it, is an enduring t h o u g h t adding a stimulus f o r craft and q u a l i t y to his labors. On a slightly m o r e philosophical b u t closely related plane, some satisfaction m u s t o b t a i n f r o m a sense of universality f o u n d in
certain w o r k - - a sense t h a t one is doing w h a t h u m a n b e i n g ; always have d o n e , e x c e p t perhaps w i t h a larger technical and data base. T h e s t u d y o f e c o n o m i c s has such an air a b o u t it; so do m e d i c i n e and farming, I suspect. T h e p r o s p e c t for operationalizing and testing these n o t i o n s c o n c e r n i n g p r o d u c t s t h a t e n d u r e and w o r k activities t h a t are associated with a sense o f h u m a n t r a d i t i o n does n o t seem p r o h i b i t i v e l y formidable. It w o u l d be m o s t interesting to see the results f r o m studies c o m p a r i n g w o r k e r and m a n a g e m e n t a t t i t u d e s in, say, the p r o d u c t i o n of quality f u r n i t u r e and m a s s - p r o d u c e d autos, or even b e t w e e n the latter and the p r o d u c t i o n o f J a g u a r a u t o m o b i l e s . Surely we have n o t c o m e so far that simple job e n l a r g e m e n t and machine-like praise f r o m a supervisor are all that matter. Surely we still possess some regard for w h a t o u r o u t p u t is and w h e r e it fits into the chronicle o f h u m a n existence.
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The aspect of work that has probably had the greatest impact on technology is the one we know least about: the organization of work. The organization of work is in itself one of the major means of that purposeful and non-organic evolution which is specifically human; it is in itself an important tool of man. But only within the very last decades have we begun to look at the organization of work. But we have already learned that the task, the tools, and the social organization of work are not totally independent but mutually influence and affect one another. --Peter F. Drucker The Age o f Discontinuity
quoted in Tony H. Bonaparte and John E. Flaherty Peter Drucker: Contributions to Business Enterprise O000noooooOOOOOOOOOooono000000000000iTO0000000000000000000000~O0000000000
BUSINESS HORIZONS
IDEATIONAL ITEMS Job satisfaction: the "throwaway" society Robert J. Waller is a faculty m e m b e r in management and economics at the University o f Northern lowa.
Current theories of motivation follow one of two paths. The cognitive approach, represented b y men like Maslow, Herzberg, and McGregor, stresses the importance of mitigating job dissatisfaction and enhancing productivity through a reconstruction of the work itself. The basic notion is to design tasks so as to insert "meaning" into a hitherto meaningless job. This approach is exemplified by such methods as job enlargement and increased worker responsibility and autonomy. Its implicit assumption is that certain higher-order needs like self-actualization, which now govern the modern worker, cannot be satisfied through job designs incorporating simplicity and routine. The second approach arises from modern behavioristic psychology, characterized b y the operant conditioning techniques of B. F. Skinner. The idea is that positively reinforcing a certain kind of behavior will result in this behavior being repeated with increased frequency. The job design is apparently a less
OCTOBER, 1973
important element in this scheme; it hinges upon selective reinforcement o f behavior management deems desirable. Thus, the critical aspect is to create mechanisms for providing this reinforcement, such as a supervisor programmed to give praise when a worker exhibits " g o o d " behavior. In both the cognitive and behavioristic approaches, however, little if any emphasis is bestowed upon the output itself-the comm o d i t y or service produced. The tacit assumption seems to be that what one is producing has little to do with job attitudes and that the residual elements of job content and context are where the real sources of dissatisfaction reside. Perhaps this is a major omission. Can we be so n u m b e d by modern life that the characteristics and dimensions of the means employed hold full dominion over the ends sought? Let us compare, for example, the construction of a fine piece of furniture and a mass-produced item such as an automobile or toothpaste. Aesthetic considerations aside, the furniture maker is conscious of the fact that he is fashioning a c o m m o d i t y that will,
61
ROBERT S. WALLER
with a p p r o p r i a t e care, last for generations. B u t the a u t o m o b i l e w o r k e r , assuming he considers the m a t t e r at all, m u s t be a c u t e l y aware t h a t the result o f his labor will last for o n l y a few years, u l t i m a t e l y resting as a jarring e y e s o r e in a roadside j u n k y a r d . A l t h o u g h the t e n d e n c y is to t h i n k o f such considerations as applying o n l y to w o r k e r s in an organization's technical core, it seems equally plausible t h a t a sensitive m a n a g e r also can e n t e r t a i n these t h o u g h t s and b e d i s t u r b e d b y his role in the p r o d u c t i o n and sale o f t r a n s i t o r y c o m m o d i t i e s . A friend o f m i n e w h o is a p o t t e r c o n c e d e s t h a t the relative perman e n c e o f his o u t p u t , in terms o f h o w p e o p l e view it and t r e a t it, is an enduring t h o u g h t adding a stimulus f o r craft and q u a l i t y to his labors. On a slightly m o r e philosophical b u t closely related plane, some satisfaction m u s t o b t a i n f r o m a sense of universality f o u n d in
certain w o r k - - a sense t h a t one is doing w h a t h u m a n b e i n g ; always have d o n e , e x c e p t perhaps w i t h a larger technical and data base. T h e s t u d y o f e c o n o m i c s has such an air a b o u t it; so do m e d i c i n e and farming, I suspect. T h e p r o s p e c t for operationalizing and testing these n o t i o n s c o n c e r n i n g p r o d u c t s t h a t e n d u r e and w o r k activities t h a t are associated with a sense o f h u m a n t r a d i t i o n does n o t seem p r o h i b i t i v e l y formidable. It w o u l d be m o s t interesting to see the results f r o m studies c o m p a r i n g w o r k e r and m a n a g e m e n t a t t i t u d e s in, say, the p r o d u c t i o n of quality f u r n i t u r e and m a s s - p r o d u c e d autos, or even b e t w e e n the latter and the p r o d u c t i o n o f J a g u a r a u t o m o b i l e s . Surely we have n o t c o m e so far that simple job e n l a r g e m e n t and machine-like praise f r o m a supervisor are all that matter. Surely we still possess some regard for w h a t o u r o u t p u t is and w h e r e it fits into the chronicle o f h u m a n existence.
62
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
The aspect of work that has probably had the greatest impact on technology is the one we know least about: the organization of work. The organization of work is in itself one of the major means of that purposeful and non-organic evolution which is specifically human; it is in itself an important tool of man. But only within the very last decades have we begun to look at the organization of work. But we have already learned that the task, the tools, and the social organization of work are not totally independent but mutually influence and affect one another. --Peter F. Drucker The Age o f Discontinuity
quoted in Tony H. Bonaparte and John E. Flaherty Peter Drucker: Contributions to Business Enterprise O000noooooOOOOOOOOOooono000000000000iTO0000000000000000000000~O0000000000
BUSINESS HORIZONS